Focus on Agriculture

SALINAS VALLEY — Pacific Valley Bank has announced that Taylor Fresh Foods, parent company of the Taylor Farms operating companies, has acquired a 16.3% ownership stake in the bank. The investment represents a significant minority position by a locally based, family-owned company with long-standing operations...

The San Luis Obispo County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measures has announced the release of the 2016 production statistics for the local agricultural industry. The total gross crop value for 2016 was $914,724,000.

KING CITY — King City Rural 4-H recently collaborated with King City High School FFA to offer an industrial arts project for its members for the first time. This rare collaboration included help from KCHS ag teacher Blaise Chaney, who opened up the school’s state-of-the-art...

KING CITY — Cristina Balestreri, who grew up in the Salinas Valley, has been named the 2023 Miss King City Stampede. Balestreri, daughter of Monterey County natives Mario and Josephine Balestreri, received the title, sash and crown during the third annual King City Stampede, a...

GREENFIELD — Lavender Creek, a family-run lavender farm and growing wellness brand near Greenfield in South Monterey County, has transformed its first Lavender Wellness Experience at the farm into a growing series of community workshops that bring calm and comfort directly to seniors and...

KING CITY — An FFA caravan hit Broadway Street last Wednesday as part of the FFA Week lineup for the Future Farmers of America at King City High School. The caravan had 35 vehicles, including diesel trucks from L.A. Hearne and Bassetti Farms, which blew...

KING CITY — The 78th annual Salinas Valley Fair returned after two years of Covid-19 pandemic closures with crowds packing the fairgrounds in King City, living up to the theme of “Back in the Saddle.”  While total attendance numbers weren’t available yet, the four days...

In recent weeks, dangerous heat has killed hundreds of people in Oregon and Washington, endangered workers across the region and strained California’s power grid. It has also exacerbated the slow-moving natural disaster already punishing the West: the drought. Late last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom formally urged...

KING CITY — The 2022 Monterey International Wine Competition wrapped up March 12 at the Salinas Valley Fairgrounds in King City. Eighteen judges representing all aspects of the wine industry swirled and sipped through 743 entries, resulting in the selection of 58 Platinum Award winners,...

KING CITY — On the east end of the King City High School campus, the new agricultural building has officially opened.  The 24,000-square-foot Career Technical Education (CTE) facility was honored by advisers, alumni, teachers, friends and family on Feb. 8. King City High School FFA ranked...